


Smoke and Mirrors Keep Us Waitin' On A Miracle

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Fragments of a Valentine [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AVALANCHE Reunion, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Hollow Bastion, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Vincent Valentine is the definition of Angst, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8469409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: Flung into the void, Vincent Valentine survives the destruction of his world. It's where he lands that makes all the difference.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look, an indulgent post-Halloween fic! 
> 
> But seriously, was listening to This is Halloween and the thought popped by of, 'Hey, what if Vincent's in Halloween Town and can't get off because he doesn't have a gummi ship?' So, ta-da! This is that thought. 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

" _Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?_ " 

Glowing crimson eyes flutter open at the sound of singing. Vincent groans softly as he levers himself to sit up against something. He checks that he can still feel all of his limbs starting with holding his arms up and checking his hands. The investigation continues with the rest of his body and Vincent concludes that the fall broke nor tore anything. Feeling sore but otherwise unharmed, he prods at the space where his Limit Breaks are. 

They're still there. 

Chaos is listening to the song still going on with a small smile curling his lips. 

Galian is humming along, one huge foot tapping to the beat. 

Both Hellmasker and Death Gigas are completely unphased by the music or the surroundings they now find themselves in. 

"Jack, come look. That star I mentioned should be right—Oh! Why, you're not a star at all!" The feminine voice has Vincent standing in a swirl of shifting garnet fabric. He has to blink a few times but feels relieved nonetheless. 

A lanky skeleton wearing a pinstriped suit, a short, squat almost man and a woman stitched together is not even topping his list of weird things but they do come rather close. 

"No. I... fell here." 

"Are you alright?" The skeleton (Jack, if Vincent hazards a guess) asks in genuine concern. "You broke the cobblestones when you landed." 

Vincent scrubs his right hand through his hair. He doesn't care to initiate much conversation but it looks like he won't get away with that here, wherever here even _is_. "I'll be fine. May I ask where I am?" 

"You don't know Halloween Town?" The almost man asked and his face **_turned around_** to show a white face instead of an regular one. 

Okay, count Vincent as slightly concerned. Faces are not meant to spin around like that. 

"Of course he doesn't, Mayor. He came from the stars." The stitched woman chides. "I'm Sally Skellington, this is Jack Skellington and this is the Mayor. You've fallen just outside of Halloween Town on Halloween of all days. What a surprise! Do you need to rest?" 

"... That would be kind of you, Mrs. Skellington." 

"Please, call me Sally. Jack, Mayor, why don't you go ahead and prepare our guest room?" Sally asks sweetly. Jack and the Mayor walk around the corner and Vincent hears their footsteps grow fainter. "May I ask your name?" 

"Vincent Valentine."

* * *

Vincent gets used to the town in small increments. Here, he blends into the environment so well that residents are surprised to find him a newcomer. 

At first he's reluctant to interact and then finds himself silently helping with a monster child's chores or carrying the old spider woman across the square for her to get her favorite flies. 

He speaks with the Werewolf, avoids the awe-struck vampires and listens to the band in the evening, perching on the light pole to overlook the sprawling township. 

Vincent cleans his gun, writes in the journal Jack makes for him and misses Cid and AVALANCHE more than he cares to admit to, at times. 

He misses Cid's loud swearing, his grease-stained fingertips and smokey kisses. 

It's when he spots a Heartless that his Limit Breaks, dozy until now, perk up with the promise of violence. 

Chaos nudges Vincent, points out the same Darkness that took their home Planet from them and Vincent snarls. 

He releases the primordial Limit Break and watches with satisfaction as Chaos destroys it utterly. 

Once it's heart floats away, he glides on rooftops until he spots Jack. 

"Jack." 

"Oh, Vincent! I've been meaning to speak with you... You look troubled, my friend." Jack's ivory brows furrow as he looks at Vincent's normally brassy gauntlet. It's dripping something black, now that Vincent looks. 

"You have a Heartless problem." 

Jack's mouth grinds faintly as it closes tight. "That is concerning. Did you get it?" 

"I did." 

"It looks like I'll have to resume my patrols of Halloween Town." Jack frowns and he looks more grave than he ever has in Vincent's presence. The Pumpkin King takes his responsibility to his people seriously.

"... I'm coming with."

* * *

"Jack will want to ask you what scary talents you have for next year's Halloween," Werewolf says, surprisingly understanding that Vincent prefers to listen instead of talking. "It's something he does with everyone who comes to Halloween Town." 

"Hnn." 

"The vampires are jealous that you can do that swirly cloak thing. They think there's a secret to it." Werewolf continues as they wander into the autumn market place. Vincent listens as he picks out food that he likes to cook and some things that he likes to experiment with. Sally and Jack have been generous hosts but Vincent clears the town of Heartless as thanks and because Jack can only hunt them for so long. "Is there a trick behind the cloak?" 

"Once you master something, you keep it to yourself." Vincent murmurs in reply as he spends his munny and carries his bags. 

"Smart. See ya later, Mr. Valentine!" 

Vincent nods his silent agreement. He tucks the perishable foods in with the icebox monster that Sally and Jack keep in the kitchen when he gets back. 

""Spider eggs?""

"I want to try a dish from my home tonight." He tells it, hanging up his cloak and stretching until his back pops. "Mmm." 

"Vincent! Jack got a message from an old friend of ours." 

"From outside?" 

"Sora's not just an outsider, he can _travel_. Maybe he can get you home." Sally explains as she waves her hands excitedly. The thread holding one on snaps and the hand thuds to the floor. 

Vincent scoops it up, pulls some thread from the spool meant just for this and sews it back on, taking care to keep his stitches neat. Sally wiggles her fingers in delight and smiles. He ducks his head and hides behind his hair. 

"I don't know if my home made it." 

"Oh. Your home isn't a place, is it? It's people." 

"Yes."

* * *

Vincent wakes one morning to see snow on the ground. 

He shuffles down the stairs to see a small tree that **definitely** doesn't belong in Halloween Town with Jack and Sally handing each other presents. 

"... I'm confused." 

"Oh. I don't believe we've told you the story of how Sally and I got together; I stole Christmas! It was just after our annual Halloween celebration..." Jack launches into the story as he holds Sally's hand in his own. 

Almost an hour later, Vincent is much less confused and cradling the singular present left for him, the curly writing spelling out his name. 

He slices off the paper to get to the box and uses a single fingertip of his gauntlet to rip the tape holding the box closed. Vincent sucks in a shakey breath at the picture the box opens to reveal. 

It's Cid laughing, cigarette impossibly hanging onto his bottom lip as he tosses a wrench over his shoulder. The rest of AVALANCHE is running to avoid the wrench in question. Vincent knows because he's the one behind this particular picture. 

He runs his thumb over the matte photo, taking in his partner with a soft wistful sigh. 

"Vincent?" Sally asks as she perches on the armchair and Jack mimics her on the other side. 

"Yes?" 

"Is he your home?" 

"They all are." 

"I see," Jack murmurs. "Tell us about them if you feel up to it?" 

"Cid... is a loud-mouth." Vincent surprises himself by speaking about his friends. "Cloud is a good friend. We sit together... sometimes..."

* * *

Halloween comes and goes without a hitch this year thanks to Vincent and the Mayor's perfect planning. 

It's when he's landing on the arch of the guillotine gate that he hears voices that don't sound familiar. 

"Gawrsh, it's still scary here." 

"Of course it is! It's Halloween Town, Goofy." 

"Let's go find Jack and Sally." 

"Sora!" Jack enthusiastically shakes Sora's hand and gestures to Halloween Town. "Do you like it?" 

"Very scary," Sora and his companions agree. 

"We had help from our newest guest." 

"Guest? Like a Heartless? A Nobody? Were they wearing a black robe?" 

"No, no, he showed up about a year ago. Sally says he came from the stars," Jack explains as the residents of Halloween Town accept thier awards. "I'm inclined to believe her. This is where he landed." 

"Where is he now?" The duck (he's not entirely sure he's seeing right) asks. 

"Oh, he'll be around. Vincent likes to help the kids out with their trick-or-treating." 

Vincent silently drops down from the town hall rooftop from where he's been listening in. A blade comes up and Vincent blocks it with his gauntlet. 

"Vincent, this is Sora, Donald and Goofy. The one we mentioned might be able to help you?" Jack explains as he tugs Vincent back and Sora lowers the blade. "Why don't you lead them to Sally for me? I'm sure she has cookies." 

"Hnn." 

"Thank you," Jack favors him with a smile. 

Vincent patiently leads them to the Skellington House and knocks gently on the door. 

"Vincent, are you done guiding—Sora, good to see you again. Come in, come in." Sally does have cookies and Vincent nabs one as he settles in the rafters. 

"What's up with him?" 

Sally glances up at him and shrugs her shoulder. "He's a reserved person, lost his world and landed here rather hard. He misses his friends. It's why I asked for your help. Vincent, may I show them your picture?" 

"Yes." 

"That's Cid! And Cloud and Tifa and Yuffie and Aerith... I don't know the others but I can bring you to where they are?" Vincent lands on the back of the spider-thread couch, hope caught in the back of his throat. "Only thing is, our gummi kinda runs on smiles. Do you think you could...?

He tugs down the cowl of his cloak, staring directly at Sora. The thought of seeing Cid again makes him crack a small smile that Sora reacts to with a blinding one of his own. 

"That sure is a pretty smile, Mr. Vincent." Goofy says and Vincent hums softly in reply. 

"It's Mr. Valentine."

* * *

The gummi is fairly roomy but it isn't meant for a grown man, a still-growing teenager, a duck and a dog-like Knight. 

Vincent spends most of his time in bed, just resting as he hasn't since the noise of Halloween Town. 

"Are you sure it's right bringing him to Hollow Bastion?" Donald hisses. 

"He has a picture of Cid _smoking_. Cid **quit** because of someone he lost. Remember how he goes off in his own gummi ship sometimes and we don't see him for days? Maybe he's looking for Mr. Valentine." Sora argues quietly. "It's not like Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Leon together won't be able to kick his butt if it's necessary. Aerith and Cid would just be overkill." 

"Fellas, maybe that's what they keep looking for?" Goofy offers. "Th' rest of their team?" 

"Well, we'll see when we get there."

* * *

Vincent steps out into a cobblestone courtyard, brass batons quiet as he listens for AVALANCHE. 

"Sora, you said you met who?" Cloud, the Planet's Hero.

"Vinnie's _alive_?!" Yuffie, the Rose of Wutai. 

"Oh, thank Shiva." Tifa, the Melee Warrior.

"One more member of AVALANCHE is reunited." Aerith, the Last Cetra. 

He strains to hear Cid. 

"HE'S WHAT?!" Oh, the dulcet tones of his beloved pilot should not sound as sweet as they do. "VINCE, GET YER ASS OVER HERE!" 

Vincent obliges, shedding his form to join with Chaos and landing in the middle of them all. He turns to find Cid, tosses the toothpick and kisses Cid within an inch of his life. 

"I am sorry, my Sky—" 

Cid kisses him again, Vincent slipping back into his own body. 

"Th' last place Ah was about t' check, hmm?" 

"Ummm, guys? Mind explaining why you just kissed in front of all of us and an impressionable teenage boy?" Aerith teases. 

Vincent wraps himself around Cid and dryly murmurs, "We're dating." 

"Have been since that Deepground mess but kept it quiet 'cause Vince asked me to. Was mournin' a lot more than our Planet." Cid adds as he presses a kiss to Vincent's chin. 

"Do you have Cerberus?" He asks. 

"Yer weapons showed up when Ah went looking for ya. Found Cerberus buried in th' courtyard here, Death Penalty in Traverse Town an' Quicksilver in Monstro." Cid replies.

"Hmm." 

"Is he always this quiet?" Sora questions. Each member of AVALANCHE starts laughing. "What?" 

"He only says something when it needs to be said or it's important." Cid finally manages as he leans his full weight against Vincent. "Vincent talks more with me than any other member 'cause he knows communication in a relationship is important." 

"Oh." 

Vincent says quietly, "... Thank you, Sora, for reuniting me with my friends." 

"You're welcome!"

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


End file.
